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Berlin Court Orders Google to Pay Idealo €465 Million Over Search Self-Preferencing

The non-final ruling leans on earlier EU Shopping findings, with both sides poised to appeal.

Overview

  • Judges found abuse of dominance in Google’s treatment of comparison services and awarded Idealo €374.09 million in damages plus €91.13 million in interest for 2008–2023.
  • Producto GmbH, operator of Testberichte.de, won a separate award of €103.7 million; both judgments allow appeals to the Berlin Court of Appeal.
  • Idealo’s claim had sought roughly €3.3 billion including interest, but the court granted a far smaller sum after scrutinizing the damage models.
  • The European Commission opened a DMA investigation into Google’s Site Reputation Abuse policy over concerns it may unfairly downgrade news publishers; Google rejects the premise and the probe targets completion within 12 months.
  • In a parallel ad-tech case, Google offered commitments including more disclosure on bid data and connecting its ad server to the Prebid alternative, even as it contests a near-€3 billion EU fine.